<original> Gone are the Days

[Belgerum]

Hello, My Little Remix! This is my first post! I've been told that this is a good community, so I thought I'd try to put some of my stuff out there.

This piece is my most recent work, and though the vocals are slightly suck-ish on my part, I thought I'd post it for the heck of it. Enjoy!

[Freewave]

Well... didn't like it much but certain things worked. It had a coherent concept of a song. The electric guitar synth which comes in is pretty good. I guess my recommendation is to look at better vsts or add some effects as they're just a bit too typical a midi sound to them and they don't really pop out. Vocals are tough as you have what you're born with and thjese didn't work too well here. You can always double track your vocals (record them in two different sessions and combine them (and trim and move any mis-timings), use some effects (delay, vocoder, autotune, distortion, lower levels, etc) to improve them or mask any flaws. Leaving them bare and flawed just doesn't work too well.

Good news is you've got the framework of a true song already done, you just need to work on the production aspects of what you started to improve the result. Keep at it and welcome to the board. Don't forget to say hi at the introduction thread.

[Belgerum]

Thanks for the advice! I will freely admit that I'm not that great with the fine details of electronic music production quite yet, but I am working at it. I may work a little bit on the finer details of this piece after that. Thank you for the comment though.

[TheSunAndTheRainfall]

Alright, I think you have the composing songs thing down pretty well, but there are a lot of things that could be improved in the technical aspect of the song. Look up drum processing to give more presence and punch to your drums (I could hardly hear them in the mix), and vocal processing (it seemed too dry throughout the song, and it was significantly louder during the latter half of the song than on the first part; you probably want to keep it consistent throughout), proper EQing, try panning stuff, etc.

And yes, getting your hands on more VSTs would definitely be a plus, as it can help make your songs sound more diverse, and some sounds you make can even inspire you to take your music elsewhere.

Otherwise, I really liked the vibe of the song. I think that with some driving percussion and better vocal processing this could be a pretty powerful tune. C:

[randomblockfilms]

yeah vocals are hard. maybe even a simple chorus effect could make them sound less mono.
But aside the vocals, i think the instrumental sounds pretty good. could maybe use some more instruments but the notes and mood sound good.

take my advice with a grain of salt as i too am learning about this music stuff

[Belgerum]

Again, thanks for the comments. Now I really wish that I could make the song better and repost it in the same youtube video to show you, but I can't.

I tried to add some more effects to the drums and vocals and do other balancing stuff to improve the song, but I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. Could I be so assertive as to ask if you could listen again? Unfortunately, youtube won't just let me change the audio to the video, so I'll post it as a download link.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RTEXJBVY

[TheSunAndTheRainfall]

Okay, quick notes:

+ The vocals still sound a little bit middle-y to me. I'd suggest tweaking the EQ so they blend better. The effects you added go well.
+ I'd still prefer the percussion to be a little more punchy.
+ At first I was like "waaaait, the instrumentation is too low" and then BAM, loud! Watch out for those things, 'cause even if changes in dynamics are good for songs, this may be just a bit too much.
+ Now the instrumentation sounds a lot more balanced! I really like where this is going!

In summary, this was a definite improvement over your first effort; each individual instrument stood out more, but also blended better in conjunction with the rest, well done!

Don't stop practicing, keep trying out new stuff. I don't know what DAW you use, but looking up tutorials on music production can never hurt. If you're interested, and if you're still a bit unsure about some concepts, I'd suggest these two websites where you can find super nifty stuff about the technical side of making music ('cause I think you're doing great, composition-wise):

http://tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.youtube.com/user/recordingrevolution

The first page is a MASSIVE guide to everything making music. It's a super lengthy read, but you learn a lot. The second page is a collection of super useful videos that explain concepts that can be applied no matter which program you use. Their 5 Minutes to a Better Mix series are pretty awesome.

[Belgerum]

Again, thanks a lot for your advice! I'm sure the websites you listed as well as the details on my song will help me in the future. Thanks a lot, and here's to music!